This site uses cookies and other tracking technologies to assist with navigation and your ability to provide feedback, analyse your use of our products and services, assist with our promotional and marketing efforts, and provide content from third parties. Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy. OK

John Miller: Expanding Chordal Horizons

In Expanding Chordal Horizons, master guitarist/instructor John Miller returns to the topic of chord theory. Building on the foundation established in his previous set, Intro to Chord Theory and Chord Voicing, John starts from the assumption that the student has a working familiarity with voicing 7th and 6th chords up and down the neck in a variety of shapes. From there, it is a short step to hybrid 7th chords, 9th and 6 9 chords, 13th chords and chordal inversions, all of which are dealt with in disc one of the lesson. In the course of learning how to voice these different chord types, you’ll also learn their sounds, and how to use them in the context of a song. Along the way, John introduces a Bossa Nova picking pattern to expand your ability to provide rhythmic accompaniment.

In the PDF study guide that accompanies the lesson, you will be provided with templates to create your own chordal diagrams for the new voicings you have been learning, and by diagramming the chords yourself, you’ll engage with the material and absorb and understand it in a way that never happens when simply taking chords from a chord dictionary or finding them on the Internet. Disc two builds on the lessons taught in disc one and further solidifies your command of the material. The songs that John has chosen as teaching vehicles have been selected for their qualities as teaching pieces, as well as their musical appeal.

If you are interested in understanding how to get around on the guitar and voice chords up and down the neck, Expanding Chordal Horizons will get you well on your way. And the understanding that you build will equip you to problem solve and create your own voicings in the future as you encounter new songs or to utilize your new knowledge in your own songs and compositions. It’s exciting to venture into these new areas!